Manager Brandon Hyde can laugh now about the play Wednesday night that began as a blown call on a missed catch by left fielder Ryan McKenna and resulted in a run scoring and no outs recorded rather than the triple play that the Orioles thought might be possible. Catch a break? The Orioles are overdue, as Hyde noted. Anthony Santander slid into second base with an apparent double tonight leading off the fourth inning and removed his shin guard, an umpire signaled home run after the ball bounced...

Jon Lester may still be finding his footing in his first season with the Nationals, but history suggests there's ample reason for the left-hander to turn in a steller start when he faces the Giants this afternoon. Sure, Lester (2-3, 5.34 ERA) has gone six innings only twice in 13 starts this season, and his last outing saw the veteran log just 3 1/3 innings against the Padres in San Diego. But Lester has won two of his last three decisions and his career numbers against the Giants are pretty...

Only three games stand between the Nationals and the All-Star break, starting with tonight's series opener in San Francisco against the Giants. While Juan Soto, Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber will stop in Denver next week for their first All-Star Game selections before returning home (though it's unclear whether Schwarber will attend or continue to rehab his hamstring injury), the rest of the team will be using the break to give some of their injured players more time to heal. One of those...

BOWIE - O's lefty John Means extended his outing in his second rehab start tonight, but he allowed two solo homers and four runs over three innings. He was pitching for Double-A Bowie against the Richmond Flying Squirrels. Two of the runs were unearned in his outing at Prince George's Stadium. Means was not discouraged at all by allowing a few runs. Being healthy was the most important part of this outing. "No, no. I'm just glad I'm healthy. Onto the next one," he said. Means gave up a...

The beauty of baseball is the everyday nature of the sport, making it easy to shake off bad losses and move on to the next game. So even though it wasn't a happy flight from San Diego to San Francisco following last night's heartbreaking loss to the Padres, the Nationals can put it behind them right away with tonight's opener against the Giants. Paolo Espino will take the mound for his first road start of the season (and the first since his major league debut back on May 19, 2017 with the...

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde explained the handling of some young pitchers earlier today by breaking it down to its simplest form. Nothing complicated about the formula. "I think if you're pitching well, it's pretty easy to stay here right now," he said. "If you come in and you show you can pitch well and can compete here, you're going to have the opportunity to go back out. Just like (Spenser) Watkins did his last start. "We're looking for pitching. There's no doubt about it. And...

Austin Hays is in left field tonight to open the final series before the break, Anthony Santander is in right and Kelvin Gutierrez is making his first start for the Orioles at third base. Pedro Severino is catching for tonight's game against the White Sox. Austin Wynns is taking ground balls at first during batting practice. Jorge López is making his fifth career appearance and fourth start against the White Sox. He's allowed 13 earned runs (14 total) and 27 hits with 25 strikeouts in 21...

The Orioles will not hold the upcoming postgame performance on July 24 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Fans who purchased field passes with game tickets to the Diplo concert on July 24 will receive a refund.

The Orioles, after splitting the first two games of their series against Toronto, had the third game rained out last night. Tonight the team welcomes the first-place Chicago White Sox to town to begin a three-game weekend series. The Orioles (28-58) have lost four of their last five games but are 5-6 over their last 11. They are 13-27 at home and now are 11-24 versus American League East teams after beating Toronto 7-5 Tuesday before a 10-2 loss on Wednesday. Through 86 games, the club has...

Agent Matthew Gaeta contacted every team in baseball last winter, trying to find a job for pitcher Spenser Watkins before the right-hander changed professions. Before baseball became a teaching position. Twenty-nine showed no interest at first, Gaeta said, and only the Orioles stayed in contact with Gaeta. Mike Snyder, the director of pro scouting, checked video of Watkins and moved the process forward. Where it took Watkins has become one of the more enjoyable stories of the 2021 season. His...